Tag: united states

MasterCard to launch selfie system for mobile payments

| February 25, 2016

MasterCard is bringing its Selfie Pay system to the UK

MasterCard has announced plans to invest in facial recognition technology more aggressively in the coming years. This announcement comes as MasterCard attempts to reduce the number of false transactions that occur within the mobile space, as well as improving the security of mobile payments overall. The company has been testing its new “Selfie Pay” system in the United States and the Netherlands and will soon bring the service to the United Kingdom, though consumers will have to pay to use it.

Selfie Pay will allow people to use their pictures as a way to verify a mobile transaction

Those using the Selfie Pay system can opt to scan a picture of their face to verify mobile transactions. This picture will be stored online on MasterCard’s servers. The picture will serve as a reference for when consumers want to use facial recognition to authenticate a transaction. Because this information is difficult to tamper with, MasterCard believes that facial recognition technology could be an adequate way to protect consumer information in the mobile commerce space.

Mobile security remains a top priority for MasterCard

MasterCard has been fighting to improve mobile security for some time. The company believes that new identification systems are needed to minimize the number of fraudulent transactions being made in the mobile space. False declines are also a problem, with MasterCard noting that the value of false declines per year has reached $118 billion. This is 13 times higher than the amount lost through credit card fraud every year.

Selfie Pay system is coming to 14 countries later this year

MasterCard is preparing to launch its Selfie Pay system in 14 countries later in the year. The company notes that those testing the system have responded positively, saying that it is both easy to use and does not affect the convenience of mobile payments. With more secure systems in place, more consumers are likely to participate in the mobile commerce space. Security has been a major concern for consumers in recent years, especially as mobile commerce systems have become more prominent and attractive targets.

Mobile payments are gaining momentum in the US and UK

| January 29, 2016

Report highlights the growing power of mobile payments

The popularity of mobile payments is growing in the United Kingdom and the United States. Citigroup and the Imperial College of London have released a new report shows that consumers in many countries are beginning to favor mobile payments when they shop digitally. This is particularly true in the U.S. and the UK, as more consumers are beginning to use their mobile devices to purchase products online. As such, they are becoming increasingly reliant on new payment services that allow them to make purchases online and in physical stores.

Consumer attitudes are affecting the adoption of new payment services

While more consumers have been opting to use their mobile devices to make payments, adoption of mobile commerce has been slow in 2015 overall. Consumer attitudes kept many people from making use of mobile payments services and these attitudes were swayed by security concerns. Many believe that their personal information is at risk when they use new payment platforms, which leads them to avoid mobile payments altogether. the report also suggests that there is a culture barrier preventing the widespread adoption of mobile payments.

UK banks are finding success with their own payment platforms

Mobile Payments US & UKBanks in the United Kingdom have reported a surge in the adoption of new mobile payments service over the past few years. Barclays has its own mobile platform, called Pingit, which now accounts for 1 million transactions as of January of this year. This is an increase over the 100,000 transactions it had been responsible for only one year ago. Payment services in the U.S. have seen similar growth, especially due to the availability of new services like Apple Pay and Android Pay.

Consumers want more security from their mobile payments services

The mobile payments sector is still considered quite young. As such, there is room for growth in its various aspects. For consumers, security remains one of the most important priorities. If services cannot protect their financial information, consumers are unlikely to make use of them. These consumers also want more value added to the mobile payments services they are interested in. This may be accomplished through stronger support for loyalty programs.